Ramarley Graham indictment tossed

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“They killed my child. What more could you take from me?” screamed Constance Malcolm, grandmother of the late Ramarley Graham, 18, in in court this week. Graham joined the list of unarmed Black men fatally shot by the NYPD. His grandmother’s outrage was in reaction to a judge’s decision to toss out the indictment of the police officer who fatally shot her grandson.

In court on Wednesday, Judge Steven Barrett ruled that the grand jury, who indicted NYPD Officer Richard Haste, was misled by the district attorney’s office. Haste was charged with manslaughter after he and another officer chased Graham into his home. Haste said he thought Graham had a weapon and shot Graham. No weapon was ever recovered.

Surveillance video shows Haste chasing Graham into his grandmother’s house in the Bronx in February 2012. Haste caught up with Graham in a bathroom inside the home where the fatal shot was fired. Officers said Graham had marijuana and was trying to flush it down the toilet. They also claimed he was adjusting his waistband on the street, leading them to believe he had a gun.

Barrett said that the law required him to throw out the indictment, stating, “I regret that there are people who are hurt by this.”

In a statement, the Bronx district attorney’s office said they strongly disagreed with the ruling.

https://www.amsterdamnews.com/news/local/ramarley-graham-indictment-tossed/article_51c43412-be56-11e2-9b04-001a4bcf887a.html

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sund like da d.a. wass incompetent ann da judge fallaw da letter aff da law ann dismissed da case.

wat oonnoo tink justice ar no justice?

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Bronx Judge Dismisses Charges in ’12 Killing by Officer; New Indictment Is Possible


A Bronx judge dismissed manslaughter charges on Wednesday against a New York City police officer who had shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old in his family’s home.


The judge, Acting Justice Steven Barrett of State Supreme Court, found that the prosecution had given improper instructions to the grand jury that indicted the officer, Richard Haste. The Bronx district attorney’s office may appeal or try to bring new charges.

The judge ruled the grand jurors were not allowed to adequately consider evidence that Officer Haste had been warned before the shooting that the teenager, Ramarley Graham, might be armed. “With not great pleasure,” Justice Barrett said, “I’m obliged in this case to dismiss the charges.”

As the judge read his decision aloud, Mr. Graham’s family erupted in anger. His mother, Constance Malcolm, was removed from the courtroom as she shouted at the judge.

“I am angry and cannot express my feelings alone,” Ms. Malcolm told reporters afterward. “I am ready to take it to the streets and the highest of the highest. Please be prepared for a major protest.”

Melvin Hernandez, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, said prosecutors would most likely either appeal the charges’ dismissal or seek a new indictment of Officer Haste, who is on desk assignment.

“It cannot be said more forcefully that we disagree with the court,” Mr. Hernandez said in a statement.

Officer Haste’s lawyer, Stuart London, said the communications to Officer Haste from other officers about whether Mr. Graham was armed went to the heart of the case. Mr. London said the prosecution’s instructions clearly influenced the grand jurors.

“I am gratified that the judge read the grand jury minutes and is concerned as he is in the integrity of the process,” he said.

Many of the events surrounding the shooting are not disputed.

On Feb. 2, 2012, a narcotics unit was staking out a bodega in the Wakefield neighborhood of the Bronx, acting on a tip that drug sales were taking place there. Two officers reported that they had witnessed three men leaving the bodega together and that they had a gun, according to a police account and radio communications made public.

At Officer Haste’s arraignment, Mr. London said that his client had heard officers say, “I see the weapon; it’s on him.” Officer Haste chased one of the men, Mr. Graham, into the family’s home on East 229th Street and confronted him in a small bathroom.

The officer fatally shot Mr. Graham, but it later became clear that Mr. Graham had been unarmed. The prosecution accused Officer Haste of acting without proper caution.

The indictment of Officer Haste was the first time a police officer had been charged in a case involving an on-duty police shooting since three detectives were charged in March 2007 in the death of Sean Bell, who was shot outside a strip club in Queens shortly before he was to be married.

The case quickly became a flash point in a debate about the proper use of police force and it stoked racial tensions that had seemed to fade in recent years.

To Mr. Graham’s friends, relatives and members of his community, the shooting was a deadly manifestation of how the police handle cases involving young black men. Mr. Graham was black. Officer Haste is white.

To Officer Haste’s fellow officers and supporters, a chaotic whirlwind of events had resulted in a tragic shooting, but one that did not involve criminality.

The dismissal of the charges does not address the question of whether Officer Haste acted properly.

Instead, Justice Barrett concluded that the prosecution’s instructions left the impression that communications between Officer Haste and other officers should not be considered important.

Mr. London said that, as the judge noted, the prosecutors may not have intended to have the jurors ignore the communications, but the “sloppy wording” of the instructions they presented the grand jury left them confused.

“The judge issued a very common-sense approach in analyzing the instructions given to the grand jury,” he said. “And if you use the common-sense approach, the instructions are basically saying the communication from other officers to Officer Haste was not important.”

Whether those communications were accurate or not, they clearly affected Officer Haste’s thinking when he confronted Mr. Graham and are central to his defense, Mr. London said.

As Officer Haste left the courtroom he was greeted by angry shouts of “murderer.” Mr. London said Officer Haste was saddened by Mr. Graham’s death.

“He is certainly remorseful that he had to take a life that day,” he said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/nyregion/charges-dismissed-in-officers-killing-of-unarmed-teenager.html?_r=0

[j-kid]

Like it or not, if di shoe was on di odda foot wi would want di judge fi toss it. Yuh caa jus decide fi revise di law as it please yuh.

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Like it or not, if di shoe was on di odda foot wi would want di judge fi toss it. Yuh caa jus decide fi revise di law as it please yuh.

same ting mii sed.

now mii wander y dem neva charge awl dem police woo entar da oouse illegallee widdout search warrants given dat dem ave video showinn dat deer wass no xxceegent circumstance. juss like da judge ritefullee uphold da law by freeinn da police, same way da d.a. woo cryinn bout da judge rulinn need fe uphold da law

[j-kid]

If mi noh mistaken, dem had probable cause, because him allegedly committed ah crime den run in deh fi get whe. Same if him run through ah church or office building, dem ah goh chase im in deh same way. Dem can claim sey yuh ah goh endanger lives, soh dem follow yuh in deh fi prevent dat from happening.

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If mi noh mistaken, dem had probable cause, because him allegedly committed ah crime den run in deh fi get whe. Same if him run through ah church or office building, dem ah goh chase im in deh same way. Dem can claim sey yuh ah goh endanger lives, soh dem follow yuh in deh fi prevent dat from happening.

no dem sed dem saw wat look like suspicious activities ann dem tink dem saw wan invisible gun so dem chase imm ann imm runn inn imm house. wan aff ramarley neighbor add a camera pon ar house ann itt show ramarley walkinn inna imm house so dat cantradict dem varsain aff chasinn ramarley so itt raises qwestians pon dem xxceegencee situation.